We have the following signed for next year:PG: BynumSG: Gordon, Rip, WhiteSF: Daye PF: Maxiell, CVC : Monroe, Wallace

Looking at this we urgently need to land:

A starting caliber PG

A starting caliber PF

A starting/backup SF

Of all the guys that are signed up beyond this summer, pretty much anyone is tradeable, although it would be preferrable to hang on to Monroe and Daye.

We have the following who are expiring this summer for about roughly $20M coming off the books: JJ (R) Stuckey (R) Summers (R) TMac Prince Wilcox

All of these can be used as trade assets to fill one of the needs above. If we sign JJ back, we can pretty much scratch backup/starting SF off the list. Considering he's been hurt all season, it's unlikely that he'll cost us too much.

So, we need a starting caliber PG and a starting caliber PF.

Let's assume that we renew JJ for about $3M, that leaves us about $17M in FA. There is no way in hell we'll be able to fill our needs with that. Considering the weak draft, that means we need to trade.

Looking at the list of FAs, there'll be several quality big men available this summer, but not so with the PGs.

So, we should focus on getting a PG via trade. To avoid creating even a bigger logjam in the guard rotation, we need to get rid of at least 2 of our guards. The immediate need IMO therefore is to get a starting caliber PG by the trade deadline using any combination of the following assets:

Stuckey or Bynum

Rip or Gordon

Prince

Maxiell or CV

Wilcox

Summers/White

Picks

Then go after a big in the FA. Of course the PG trade will dictate if we'll be able to do that (if we use Stuckey, Prince AND Wilcox to get a PG, we won't have any money left for a PF).

I read some rumours about David West opting out from his contract and the Hornets isn't likely to pay what he demands. Maybe an option? It's hard to value the guys who's played with super-pg:s though. However everybody thought Amare would have a big drop off in stats when he left Nash.

Asof know our payroll next season is over $48M, assuming a $60M cap that only leaves us $12M under the cap and that's if and only if we denounce our Bird Rights on Stuckey and JJ.

We have $17.5M in wasted cap space right now in Rip and Max, so moving them by Feb.24th should be a high priority.

I like T-Mac as our PG/Floor General/Team Leader, I think bringing him back is a top priority, so say good-bye to about $6-$8M of that $12M.

Precedence has already been set on JJ with Amir's contract (a few seasons ago), expect a 3 year deal in the $10-$12M range. That leaves just enough money to sign a Wilcox like player that Joe likes to have at the end of the bench.

Again this is if we denounce our Bird Rights on Stuckey, if we don't then the scenario will stay the same and we'll simply use the MLE (if there is one after the new CBA) to sign T-Mac, if we can sign him with the MLE.

If we can't move Rip and or Max's contracts then the entire season after the trade deadline will be used to determine whether or not we sign T-Mac and Stuckey, or are we in a situation where it's T-Mac OR Stuckey.

If we can move Rip we're looking at about $25M, now we can go get Z-Bo ($12.5M = 5yrs/$70M), Keep JJ ($3M) and T-Mac ($6.5M). This leaves us $2M under the cap.

To have a shot at D-Will we have to move Max, Rip and we can't re-up Stuckey, Joe is going to have to be smart and shrewed about it and I'm not convinced he's capable these days.

Assuming Tay is gone next season and Daye or JJ is our starting SF, that means 2 of our main players will be on their rookie contracts and it's critical that we make a free agent move at that time because that's the window of time where you can have a nice chunk of Capp Spayce and still have a good team, unless of course you have $20M sitting on the bench tied up between 2 players, $41M if Max and Rip are still on the payroll.

KGREG, do you really think it best the Pistons use FA money to to sign two players 30+ who'd, at best, would make the Pistons a marginal Eastern Conference team?

Might be a sidenote, but with the new CBA I would not be surprised if the salary cap went down to $54 million-ish.

Click to expand...

Yes. The org can't afford to keep marching a lottery bound team out onto the floor. I believe too many of you all want a contender and that's just not gonna happen with the new Heat for a while, also add in the Knicks with Melo. We just need to be competitive for the next 7-8 years to appease the fan base and put butts into seats at the Palace and get some more TV revenue. Once you go into the lottery there's no guarantee you'll leave anytime soon just ask Minn, GSW and the Clips, The Detroit Economy and fan base can not support a lottery bound team for more than a year or two, maybe three and we're essentially in year 2 right now.

Yes. The org can't afford to keep marching a lottery bound team out onto the floor. I believe too many of you all want a contender and that's just not gonna happen with the new Heat for a while, also add in the Knicks with Melo. We just need to be competitive for the next 7-8 years to appease the fan base and put butts into seats at the Palace and get some more TV revenue. Once you go into the lottery there's no guarantee you'll leave anytime soon just ask Minn, GSW and the Clips, The Detroit Economy and fan base can not support a lottery bound team for more than a year or two, maybe three and we're essentially in year 2 right now.

Click to expand...

thats why Dumars came with "rebuilding on the fly" motto 2 years ago, I guess. For owner a lottery team was financially unacceptable.

Yes. The org can't afford to keep marching a lottery bound team out onto the floor. I believe too many of you all want a contender and that's just not gonna happen with the new Heat for a while, also add in the Knicks with Melo. We just need to be competitive for the next 7-8 years to appease the fan base and put butts into seats at the Palace and get some more TV revenue. Once you go into the lottery there's no guarantee you'll leave anytime soon just ask Minn, GSW and the Clips, The Detroit Economy and fan base can not support a lottery bound team for more than a year or two, maybe three and we're essentially in year 2 right now.

Yes. The org can't afford to keep marching a lottery bound team out onto the floor. I believe too many of you all want a contender and that's just not gonna happen with the new Heat for a while, also add in the Knicks with Melo. We just need to be competitive for the next 7-8 years to appease the fan base and put butts into seats at the Palace and get some more TV revenue. Once you go into the lottery there's no guarantee you'll leave anytime soon just ask Minn, GSW and the Clips, The Detroit Economy and fan base can not support a lottery bound team for more than a year or two, maybe three and we're essentially in year 2 right now.

Click to expand...

So the answer is respectable mediocrity? Some people may want a contender but I'm not in the boat. Doesn't seem realistic. The Pistons have none of the components to build one for the foreseeable future. But I can't root for an organization whose only goal is to put a semi-decent team out there to make money. Otherwise I'd be a Clippers fan.

Of players who have taken more than 20 three point attempts the Pistons have players ranked 26, 44, 54, 59, 76, 89, 113, 188. Across all players they're the 8th best three point shooting team in the league, above Orlando.

So the answer is respectable mediocrity? Some people may want a contender but I'm not in the boat. Doesn't seem realistic. The Pistons have none of the components to build one for the foreseeable future. But I can't root for an organization whose only goal is to put a semi-decent team out there to make money. Otherwise I'd be a Clippers fan.

Click to expand...

I consider a team that can win 50 games a year and play .700-.750 ball at home a good product (think Utah, Portland, Dallas and Denver), and from there you can build something else, something better. But I just don't understand why some folks are so picky about adding talent to this team when it becomes available. The best big man who's going to soon be available is Zac Randolph, the best PG who'll be available soon is Deron Williams and as an Org I think we should be preparing to acquire both of those players to play with JJ, Daye, Monroe and possibly Ben Gordon. We do that by eliminating our bad contracts (Rip and Max, definitely; CV and Gordo, possibly) while still competing hard and making the playoffs, if Joe and Q do their jobs we can do both.

In the year where D-Will becomes of available I suspect that our rotational minutes will mostly be taken by Daye, JJ, Monroe, CV and Gordo, that's only $30M in salary, that leaves $30M in cap space enough to accomodate both players. The reason why Chi was able to get a good player like Boozer was because 2 of their best starters (Rose and Noah) are playing on their rookie-scale contracts, it's so important to make free agency moves when rookie scale salary players are eating the bulk of your rotational minutes.

This year’s Showcase didn’t much help Walker, though, who is looking to resume his NBA career by playing through its minor league partner. Yet in Walker’s two games at the Showcase with the Idaho Stampede, he shot 4-of-26 from the field (15.4%), 2-of-10 from three-point range, and committed 12 turnovers. The D-League is stronger than ever, but those kinds of marks are hugely disappointing

I consider a team that can win 50 games a year and play .700-.750 ball at home a good product (think Utah, Portland, Dallas and Denver), and from there you can build something else, something better. But I just don't understand why some folks are so picky about adding talent to this team when it becomes available. The best big man who's going to soon be available is Zac Randolph, the best PG who'll be available soon is Deron Williams and as an Org I think we should be preparing to acquire both of those players to play with JJ, Daye, Monroe and possibly Ben Gordon. We do that by eliminating our bad contracts (Rip and Max, definitely; CV and Gordo, possibly) while still competing hard and making the playoffs, if Joe and Q do their jobs we can do both.

In the year where D-Will becomes of available I suspect that our rotational minutes will mostly be taken by Daye, JJ, Monroe, CV and Gordo, that's only $30M in salary, that leaves $30M in cap space enough to accomodate both players. The reason why Chi was able to get a good player like Boozer was because 2 of their best starters (Rose and Noah) are playing on their rookie-scale contracts, it's so important to make free agency moves when rookie scale salary players are eating the bulk of your rotational minutes.

Click to expand...

I agree, 50 wins per season would be great. But adding players like Zach Randolph to our current core doesn't fit with that vision. Isn't the add the "best we can get" mentality how we ended up with Villanueva and Gordon in the first place? If Detroit could actually attract free agents the caliber of Deron then the future would look a lot brighter, but that's never been the case.